


A Touch Is All It Takes

by misselaress



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Starfleet Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-08-20 15:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16558337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misselaress/pseuds/misselaress
Summary: Since he had been old enough to understand what it meant, Jim had been curious to know what was going to happen in his life that resulted in the placement of the dark black stain that was his soulmate mark.





	1. Revelation

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me while I was doing my NaNoWriMo writing. It’s short and fast and was a bit of fun to write so I thought I would share.

Most people’s soulmate marks were in common places. The palms of their right hands were black, fingers curling around the back of their hands, quite clearly their first touch of their soulmate was going to be a handshake. Other people had marks along the backs of their fingers from where their first contact was a brush of fingers handing over coffee or change, or the tips of their fingers were black from where they brushed the backs of fingers taking it. A lot of people had black streaks down arms or knuckles where they were going to simply brush against their soulmate in passing.

          Not Jim’s. His was one of the strange ones that always had people talking and obsessing over, trying to work out how it was going to happen.

          Since he had been old enough to understand what the black stain across the back of his left hand meant he had been confused about what exactly was going to happen to result in his first skin-to-skin touch with his soulmate.

          He had thought at one point that his soulmate was going to rest their hand on top of his, until he had remembered that there were clear finger marks wrapped around his hand that darkened his palm in black streaks.

          Someone once said that his soulmate was going to drag him up from a fall. Another had speculated that it was going to be someone trying to pull him away from the many fights he tried to get himself involved in.

          Jim was no closer to working out his mark then he had been as a child when he stepped onto the shuttlecraft that was going to take him out of Iowa and to Starfleet Academy.

          His trip had been more entertaining then he thought it could have been, his new friend Bones had not been what he was expecting when he thought about what the other Starfleet recruits might be like.

 

Jim shifted uncomfortably at the back of the room as he waited for the people in charge to assign him to his room and roommate. He was hoping that no one noticed that he had hacked the system when they all arrived and changed his allocated roommate from Hendorff-he didn't even know who the man was, so he didn't feel bad about it-to being one Doctor Leonard McCoy instead.

          Bones-as he had affectionately dubbed the gruff man-was fun to be with, and Jim had no doubt that his time at Starfleet Academy would be more interesting with the Doctor at his side.

          “James Kirk.” Jim straightened at the call of his name, ignoring the fact that a lot of the other recruits were now looking around trying to get a look at the famed ‘Kelvin Baby’. “Leonard McCoy.”

          Jim tried not to whoop with joy, glancing to the side to see the reaction of the man beside him. He was upset to see that the other man didn’t seem to be any where near as thrilled at the idea, in fact he almost looked like he was going to complain about the roommate assignment.

          Finally Leonard turned to look at him, giving him a once over before he sighed in defeat. “I suppose it could have been worse.” He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, not looking at Jim again before he went to collect the Padd with the information about their room on it.

          Jim followed behind him happily, his own bag thumping against his back.  Bones would see how great this was when they got to their accommodation.

 

“The living room and kitchen remain clear of any clutter; our personal clutter and things stay in our own rooms.” Leonard hadn’t even stepped two feet into their apartment before he started listing rules. “The kitchen stays tidy, if you use it you wash it. Anything remotely sexual stays in bedrooms and does not happen on the couch.”

          “I thought I had a roommate not a parent.” Jim flopped onto the couch, his bag dropped to the ground at his feet. “Can we please settle in before we start coming up with rules? Seriously, if I’d known you would be this controlling I wouldn’t have made you my roommate.”

          Leonard turned back from heading towards the room he was clearly claiming as his own. “You made us roommates?”

          “Obviously, did you think it was coincidence that we were sitting together on the shuttle and suddenly we’re roommates?”

          “I thought it was somebody’s idea of a bad joke, lumping me with an oversized child to deal with.” Leonard turned fully and studied Jim. “Why did you make us roommates?”

          Jim sat up and leant forward so he could study Leonard carefully, all trace of joke from his face. “Because I thought you were pretty cool. You didn’t react all doe eyed to my name, and you didn’t put up with my bullshit.” He shrugged and settled back against the couch again. “It was a nice change from what normally happens when I meet people.”

          There was a frustrated sigh from across the room followed by a soft thud. “You’re gonna be trouble aren’t ya kid?” Leonard asked when he was standing in front of Jim once more.

          “It’ll be fun though.” Jim promised. He stood up so he was eye level with the brunette.

          “Lets try this again.” He suggested. “Hey, I’m James Kirk, but most people call me Jim. It’s nice to meet you.” Holding his hand out, Jim waited for the other man to react to the offer.

          Leonard stared him down for a moment, giving Jim the opportunity to study his hazel eyes without it being completely weird. Finally he felt Leonard’s hand wrapping around his own.

          “What the hell?” Leonard glanced down at their joint hands with a frown. “Your daddy never teach you how to shake hands?”

          Jim was confused as he looked down at their still joined hands, only to realise that he had held out his left hand on instinct instead of his right. He felt a flush spreading across his cheeks as he looked up at Leonard again.

          “Never had a father to teach me, all I had was the Scouts.” Jim admitted almost reluctantly. “Shaking with my left hand is more natural than my right.”

          Leonard’s hand tightened around Jim's as his face broke into a grin before he started laughing. Jim stood watching him, not sure whether he should be offended or join in with the laughter.

          “Yea, you’re gonna be trouble.” Leonard finally went to let go of Jim’s hand, but as he uncurled his fingers in preparation to drop the hand in his grasp Jim’s soulmate mark came into view once more.

          What was once a black stain on his hand was now a sea blue/green mix of colour.

          “Oh.” Jim breathed out, quickly turning his hand over and grabbing Leonard’s wrist, twisting his hand so he could see the palm of Leonard’s hand.

          Leonard’s palm and fingers were a brilliant bright blue.

          “Well shit.” Leonard looked back up at Jim again. “This was not what I expected when I signed up for this ride.”

          Jim could only grin like a fool. He had an answer to how his soulmate mark was activated, and that answer came with a soulmate as well.

          He was suddenly really looking forward to his future.


	2. Injuries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was only going to be two chapters of a little bit of fun but it has now gained a life of it's own, I have no control over how long this will be any more...

Leonard no longer wanted a soulmate, it was to much for his heart to take feeling the stabbing pain in his hand indicating Jim had been badly injured. They had started slowly dating once their marks activated and it had been a nice, if slightly awkward couple of weeks getting to know each other. Now Leonard wasn’t so sure he wanted the soulmate mark at all. This certainly wasn’t the first time he had felt his soulmate mark burn, but this was worse than any of the times it had happened before his mark had actually activated, those times it had felt like his hand was tingling rather than burning.  

          He was with a cadet who had fallen from part of the academy’s obstacle course and fractured a couple of ribs and broken their leg. He couldn’t leave them now – not while the instruments were working on fixing the delicate ribs – but he desperately wanted to go and find Jim and insure for himself that he was being looked after. 

          His Padd chimed with a message from one of the other doctors telling him where Jim was and that he was being treated, which eased Leonard only a little, but it was twenty torturous minutes before Leonard could finally release his patient with a few instructions and a signed note explaining why they weren’t able to participate in the obstacle course for the rest of the week. 

          Finally having shown them out Leonard quickly turned and headed for Jim’s room – he would deny until his last breath that he had run. 

          When he finally made it to the right room he let himself in, glancing over the room and taking everything in before his eyes landed on Jim and stayed there. The blonde was laid out on a biobed, eyes closed though a quick glance at his chest showed that he was in fact breathing. He stepped closer and then looked up at the doctor who was treating Jim. 

          “Concussion, only minor. A broken arm and some bruising.” The doctor told Leonard without being asked. “He is unconscious at the moment from the fall, but he should come out of it soon.” 

          “Do you know what happened?” Leonard was standing beside Jim now, wrapping his fingers around Jim’s and brushing the hazel mark adorning the back of the others hand. 

          “Fell off the obstacle course. I believe they have stopped training on it today as he is the third cadet to have been brought in from falling off the same obstacle.” 

          “I just treated a cadet with fractured ribs and a broken leg from falling off the course.” Leonard told the other doctor. “Damn death trap that thing.” 

          The hand beneath his twitched, fingers curling in on themselves and Leonard turned his attention to his partner on the bed. Jim didn't appear to have actually woken yet so Leonard relaxed into the chair by the bed to wait, the hum of the machines as the other doctor worked on fixing Jim filling the silence. 

          When the doctor had finished his work he left Leonard to monitor Jim's condition, his wrist was healed but they couldn't be certain about the concussion until he was conscious again. 

 

Leonard had spent his time working through paperwork that had needed doing while keeping half his attention on Jim at the same time. The blonde had woken for a short time earlier and was now simply sleeping, something which made Leonard immensely happier.  

          "Bones?" Jim mumbled, turning slightly in the bed so he could find his boyfriend. "Why do I feel like I went a couple of rounds to many with a Gorn?" 

          "Cause you and two other cadets decided to take a fall off the academies obstacle course." Leonard stood up again and leant over Jim. "You want something for your head?" 

          "I think I'm good." Jim told him, "When can I go back to our dorm?" 

          "Let me check you over and make sure there's nothing more wrong then we can go home." Leonard promised, pulling out his tricorder and setting to doing exactly what he had told Jim. 

          Ten minutes later Leonard was leading Jim back to their dorm, not wanting to let the blonde out of his sight in fear of him injuring himself again. Leonard didn't want to go through the pain of feeling his soulmate mark telling him his boyfriend was in pain. 

          "You all good Bones?" Jim asked, shifting closer and slinging his previously broken arm around the brunette's waist to draw him closer still. "You haven't said a word since we left." 

          "Don't do that to me again." 

          "Do what?" Jim frowned, halting them both so he could turn Leonard to face him. 

          "Don't get hurt like that, my mark burned when you got hurt and I almost dropped my tricorder." Leonard told him, "It was so much worse than before it activated." 

          "I can't promise never to get hurt." Jim told him, reaching up and cupping his face in his hands. "But I can promise I will try not to." 

          Having grabbed Jim's collar in both his hands Leonard dragged him forward until they were close enough that he could press a demanding kiss to Jim's lips. 

          "Please." Leonard breathed when they broke apart. "I'm far too fond of having you to lose you now." 

          Instead of answering Jim gave a lopsided grin and turned again so they could continue their walk back to their dorm, refusing to let go of his boyfriend no matter how much he tried to act like he wanted Jim out of his personal space. 

          "Why the hell did I have to end up soulmated to a child?" 

          "Your soul picked me Bones, so it's on you." 

          "You're cooking dinner tonight as punishment for giving me early greys." Grumbling slightly, Leonard held the door open so the two could squeeze through. "And I don’t want damn replicated food. We have a perfectly good kitchen and I always buy fresh food. I know you can cook, I want a proper dinner." 

          "Should I really be cooking after having concussion this afternoon?" 

          "Your heads so damn thick the concussion probably didn't do anything to you. You're fine to cook if I say you're fine to cook." 

          "I'm so glad you care about me Bones."


	3. Anniversaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am supposed to be working right now, but I couldn't not write this chapter when the idea came to me so I've sneakily written this. Hopefully there aren't any mistakes!

Things couldn't have been better for Jim. He was doing brilliantly in all his classes at the academy, he had a good group of friends, and the absolute best part of the whole thing was he had found his soulmate.

          The only thing that had been close to putting a dampener on Jim's good mood was meeting Leonard's ex-wife Jocelyn a few months earlier. Jim hadn't been told much, but Leonard had told him that Jocelyn's mark had activated when they had been at a local dance in Georgia but Leonard's hadn't. It wasn't unheard of for soulmates not to match, but it didn't happen every day. They had tried to make it work, Leonard had been incredibly taken with Jocelyn when they first meet, and then when she had gotten pregnant they were certain the fact that his mark hadn't activated wasn't going to be an issue.

          Jim didn't know how the marriage had ended, all he knew was it was bad enough for Leonard to jump on a shuttle to an organisation that operated in the one place Leonard hated the most.

          The meeting with Jocelyn hadn't been all bad, he also got to meet Leonard's absolutely gorgeous daughter Joanna. The young brunette had been quick to point out that since he was soulmated to her father than he had to be her father too and had insisted on calling Jim dad all weekend - which had annoyed Jocelyn and her new husband Clay who had been trying to get the girl to call Clay dad since they got married. Leonard had confided in Jim that he had thought the whole thing was hilarious.

          Jim smiled fondly at the good memories from that weekend before he shook his head and focused on his task at hand once more. He was setting the small table in their dorm with their mismatched crockery and cutlery, a tablecloth he had borrowed from Gaila and some candles he had purchased on his way home. It didn't look anywhere near as fancy as a restaurant would, but it was perfect for the two of them for their one year anniversary dinner. He thought Leonard would appreciate the effort Jim was going to for the night, though he might get upset to find out Jim had skipped his last class that afternoon to get back to their dorm early enough to prepare everything.

          His Padd chimed softly and he picked it up to see who was messaging him. He couldn't help the goofy grin spreading across his face when he saw Leonard's name. He opened it up and read the message asking if there was anything they needed before Leonard came home. Jim thought about it for a second and looked over the table and took a quick look in the fridge. He was about to close the fridge and tell his boyfriend just to bring himself home when he realised he had forgotten to get anything to drink.

          Typing out a message to ask Leonard to get whatever he felt like drinking that night he settled on the couch, until the brunette got home there was nothing he could do, especially with dinner staying warm in the oven.

 

The door to their room slid open and Jim was on his feet and at the door before Leonard had any time to step in. He blocked Leonard's view of the room with his body before he held up his left hand and pressed his palm against Leonard's eyes. For a second all he could do was stare at the brilliant hazel mark which still caught him by surprise when he saw it.

          Leonard's huff of annoyance reminded him that he hadn't allowed the other man to enter their room. "What are you playin' at Jim?"

          "A surprise. Trust me." Jim carefully stepped to the side, making sure his hand stayed covering his boyfriends beautiful eyes but allowing him the space to guide him into the room and to the table.

          When he had Leonard safely sitting at their table he leant over his shoulder. "If I take my hand away will you promise to keep your eyes closed till I tell you to open them?" Jim asked.

          Leonard gave a small nod of agreement, having stayed surprisingly silent and allowing Jim to do what he wanted.

          Jim pulled his hand away, taking the bottle of whiskey with him when he stepped away from the table and into the kitchen. He quickly poured them both a generous serving, adding ice to the glasses before he set them on the counter and retrieved dinner.

          "How was your day?" Leonard asked from the table when the silence had stretched.

          "It was good, had a surprise drill in our flying class. Managed to complete it with only one 'life lost'." Jim glanced over his shoulder to make sure Leonard hadn't peeked at what he was doing, but he was pleased to see the other still had his eyes firmly closed. "How about your day? You had that surgery to do today, did it go well?"

          "Yea, my team was great. We managed to get the surgery done without issue."

          "Well done Bones." Jim finished serving up their dinner and carefully put the plates down at both settings. He grabbed their drinks and put them on the table too before he took his seat opposite Leonard. "Open your eyes now Bones."

          Leonard's eyes opened slowly and a soft gasp was all that revealed his surprise at what was set out in front of him. He looked up at Jim slowly and smiled, "What's all this for darling?"

          "It's been a year since we became roommates." Jim told him, reaching his left hand across the table to Leonard. He didn't have to say anything else to the other man who set his own marked hand down on top of Jim's.

          "So it has." He said softly. "Who would have thought I'd be the one forgetting anniversaries?"

          "I don't expect presents or anything. I just wanted us to have a quiet night together." Jim left his hand on the table, given that he had planned a meal that would easily be eaten with one hand for this very reason he wasn't in any rush to move his hand.

          "Love you Leonard."

          "I love you to Jim." Leonard squeezed Jim's hand gently and then relaxed into his chair, grabbing his spoon and starting in on his soup.

          Jim wouldn't ever want to change a thing about his life at this moment, everything was better than he had ever dreamed it would be.


	4. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I need to bring more Enterprise crew in but I just can't work out how I want to so for now you get Jim and Leonard being cute, plus some Jo time! I hope this chapter doesn't seem rushed because I wrote the ending really quick before Doctor Who started and I wanted to get it posted before it started...

Leonard flopped down on the couch after his shift, dropping his feet heavily into Jim’s lap. The blonde only shifted enough to make it more comfortable for them both but didn’t look up from his Padd, knowing Leonard would talk about his day when he was ready to.

          They stayed silent for a long time, the room darkening as the sun set but neither wanted to turn the lights on. Leonard was starting to doze where he was, the events of the day catching up to him.

          “As much as I don’t want you to move, I gotta get up.” Jim said softly, running his hand up Leonard’s ankle slowly. “I won’t be gone long.”

          Leonard shifted his legs slight before allowing Jim to carefully push his legs to the side so he could stand up. He tracked his boyfriend around the couch before he was out of sight and he fell back onto the couch, dropping his arm across his eyes.

          He knew he was tired but he didn’t think he actually would fall asleep, so when Jim came back to their couch and slowly settled himself back down after the soft thump of cups resting on the coffee table Leonard was a little disoriented.

          “I made hot chocolate.” Jim told him when he shifted his arm far enough to see the table. “I didn’t think coffee was a good idea for either of us at this time.”

          “Thanks darling.” Leonard finally sat up, shifting across the couch so he was sitting close to Jim but still had enough room that neither of them would knock shoulders when they were drinking.

          “Jocelyn called while I was working today.” Leonard started as he leant forward to pick up one of the two cups. “I had to call her back on my break. She wants me to take Jo in two weeks while her and Clay go away for a couples week which they haven’t had since they got together. Jocelyn reckons it’s about time they deserve a couples week since her and Clay have been married almost two years.”

          “That’s the price you pay when you marry someone with full custody of a young child.” Jim chimed in, “So you agreed to take Jo right? I mean we get to spend a whole week with her, it’ll be great.”

          “Jim we live in a dorm and we both have full time classes and work. We don’t have time to have Jo.”

          “We have my room, which I should point out I haven’t used since the first couple of months here. Plus it’s break in two weeks, the only thing we’ll have is work and we can either take the week off or we beg and plead to make sure our shifts don’t overlap.”

          Leonard picked up his Padd, pulling up his calendar to check the date Jocelyn had told him she would bring Jo. Jim was right, he had his final exam two days before that and then he was on six weeks break. “Wonder if Jocelyn knew I was going on break and planned it like this or if we just got lucky.”

          “Don’t question it, just go with it. Take the chance to spend a whole week with Jo.” Jim leaned across the couch and grinned, “Who knows, we might convince Jocelyn and Clay to take a longer couples trip and get more time with her.”

          “I don’t know if Starfleet would like the idea of a kid staying in the dorms, even during break.” Leonard desperately wanted to say yes to having Jo for the week, he missed getting to spend any time with her and Jocelyn was handing him the opportunity on a silver platter. He knew if he didn’t take this chance and make it work Jocelyn would hold it against him in the future. He didn’t want to give up on his opportunity to prove to Jocelyn that just because he was at Starfleet doesn’t mean he can’t be a good father and be there for Jo when she needed him.

          “So we move out of the dorm before she gets here.” Jim shrugged like he had told Leonard it had rained that morning and not dropped a monumental idea on him.

          “We have two weeks we wouldn’t find a place in two weeks.”

          “Sulu found a place in three, I think we can find a place in two. There’s plenty of apartments around the area for Starfleet cadets with families who can’t stay in the dorms.” Jim put his cup down and grabbed his Padd instead. “I was looking at apartments a few weeks ago thinking maybe we could talk about moving out of the dorm and into one. Maybe this situation will fast track the idea, but I don’t think it’ll be a bad one.”

          “You want to get an apartment so I can have my daughter for a week?” Leonard glanced over and raised his brow.

          “If we have an apartment instead of staying in the dorms maybe Jocelyn will let us have Jo more. Come on Bones, what is there to lose? If we can’t find an apartment in time we just come up with a way to have Jo here and try again at the apartment. Unless your problem with this whole thing is the apartment.” Jim finally took a deep breath and looked back to where Leonard was staring at him. He silently held out his Padd to Leonard with the page open on the apartments he had been looking at. “We don’t have to.”

          Leonard silently took the Padd and looked through the options that Jim had selected. He had to admit that his boyfriend had done his research, highlighting all the apartments that were close to both of their works and the Academy, he also didn’t fail to notice that none of them were one bedroom, it looked like Jim had been thinking about having Jo – or others – staying with them

          “Okay, I’ll agree to this crazy idea. We can go looking for apartments and I’ll message Jocelyn and tell her I’ll have Jo.” Leonard was already regretting the idea but that didn’t mean he could shake the excitement at getting their own place so he could have his daughter come and stay more often.

          “Great, you have tomorrow afternoon off work don’t you? How about I set up some inspections with the places I was looking at that are still available?” Jim grabbed his Padd back from Leonard and began flicking through the pages excitedly. “There was a great one that I thought could be nice, I was already asking about it so I know it’s still available. It has three bedrooms as well, so we could set one of the two up as a spare room for Jo and my nephew Peter and the second room can be a spare room for any adults we might have staying with us. Sam might actually come and visit me if I had somewhere for him to stay since he refuses to step foot in an academy dorm room again. We should look at that one first.”

          Leonard just chuckled and picked up his hot chocolate again, settling down against Jim’s side and allowing him to organise everything. Finding a new place together would be nice, and any chance he could take to be able to have Jo more often would be an added bonus. The fact that it was making Jim this happy was just icing on the cake in Leonard’s books.

 

“That box is clearly labelled bathroom so why are you carrying it into the kitchen?”

          Leonard crossed his arms and stared his boyfriend down, his head tilting to the side just a little.

          “Cause I was taking the scenic route to the bathroom so I could check out our new place again. I still can’t believe it’s ours.” Jim shifted the box under his arm and stepped up to Leonard, pressing a kiss to his cheek quickly. “The fact that Jo will be here this afternoon is the best part.”

          “Go put that in the bathroom, that was the last box that needed to bring in.” Leonard shoved Jim aware gently, “You have to thank Pike for lending us his vehicle, it made this whole thing so much easier.”

          Jim hummed his agreement before he left to do as he was told. Leonard took the time to check his Padd for the time. “Jocelyn and Jo will be here in twenty minutes Jim. Do you think we should have a quick shower or just get changed?”

          “If we shower together it will save time.” Jim stuck his head out of the bathroom and found Leonard again.

          “Sure why not.”

          Jim looked slightly surprised for a second before he punched the air and turned to get some clothes out of their room and hurry back to the bathroom before Leonard changed his mind.

Twenty minutes later they were both showered dressed and waiting on the couch. Jim had all but had to drag Leonard down onto the couch with him when the older man had started pacing.

          Leonard was out of his seat so fast he almost elbowed Jim in the side in his haste to get to the door when their door chime finally sounded. The door slid open to the excited squeal of Joanna barrelling into her fathers legs and a cry of “Daddy!”

          Jim got up more slowly and wandered over to the door to stand behind Leonard. He reached up to grab the door frame to lean on it not missing Jocelyn’s eyes following his hand and narrowing at the hazel mark across his skin. Jim just smirked and kept his hand right were it was on full display. Jim did feel bad for her about the whole situation, it wasn’t her fault her mark had activated with Leonard and his hadn’t. But it was her fault the way she had treated Leonard since their divorce and Jim wasn’t going to forgive her for that.

          “I’m glad you finally have a house and you can take Jo.” Jocelyn told Leonard when she could pull her eyes away from Jim’s hand. “She has everything packed for a week, including some medication for a virus she caught the other week at school. You’ll work out the directions I’m sure, you’d probably snap at me if I tried to tell you any way.”

          “Just because I can read the directions doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell me. Not everyone is the same when it comes to their medication dosages.” Leonard was petting his hair through Joanna’s hair gently. He stepped back and gestured into their apartment for Jocelyn to come in. “You want a coffee before you head back to the shuttle?”

Jim could see Jocelyn soften just a little as she followed Leonard into the house. Joanna had decided to jump on Jim’s back and was getting a grand tour into the kitchen from the blonde.

          “I am glad you have an apartment. She has been missing you like crazy since you and Jim came to visit a couple of months ago.” Jocelyn put Joanna’s bag on the couch and dug through it to pull out the medication. She set it on the counter and talked Leonard through it, including the points that made it easier to make Jo take them, while Leonard made three coffees and a hot chocolate for them all.

          “I have my own room here to Mummy! I have two bedrooms.” Joanna cheered when Jim set her down on one of the bar stools that lined the kitchen island. “If I’m a good girl Dad will buy me all sorts of things to decorate it with!”

          “We have to make sure that my nephew will be happy in the room to Jo.” Jim reminded her gently. “But since you’re our first visitor you get the chance to decorate it.”

          “That’s great Joanna. You’re going to have a good time with your father and Jim.” Jocelyn sipped her coffee and watched the blonde interact with her daughter. She looked up at Leonard who was leaning against the counter watching the scene as well with a fond smile spread across his lips. “You know she called Clay dad the other day.”

          Leonard looked at Jocelyn carefully and smiled, “That’s good. I know he’s good for her, I wish I could be around more but it’s good to know someone’s looking out for you both in my place.”

          Jocelyn just hummed and looked away again, not wanting to let Leonard see the blush rising to her cheeks.

 

After Jocelyn had left Jim and Leonard had spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen with Joanna making tacos for dinner, which they had eaten sprawled across the couch and living room floor since their dining table wasn’t set up yet.

          Leonard hadn’t been able to keep the huge smile from his face the whole time, even when they had read Joanna a book and tucked her into her brand new bed.

          Jim was laying on the couch when Leonard could finally pull himself away from his daughters side. He patted the spot beside him, it was small but Leonard knew he could easily curl up on the couch with Jim, especially since this couch was larger than the one they had had in their dorm and they had managed on that one.

          “Thanks Jim.” Leonard murmured as he made himself comfortable with his back pressed against Jim’s chest.

          “Anything for you Bones.” Jim promised, wrapping his arm protectively around Leonard’s waist and squeezing. “I’m glad we could make this happen. Now we get two whole weeks with Jo.”

          “We only have one week.”

          “Nope, Jocelyn called the other day and asked if they could extend their trip another week. I readily agreed and told her you would be more than thrilled at the idea. So we get two whole weeks.”

          Leonard didn’t think his cheeks could hurt so much from the smiling he had been doing today, but if he had two weeks with his daughter he was going to be doing a lot more. And he couldn’t be happier.


End file.
